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Background:Controlling for day-to-day variation is a key issue in estimating long-term dietary exposure to heavy metals using 24-hour recall (24HR) data from a relatively small number of days.Objectives:This study was conducted to estimate long-term dietary exposure to lead, cadmium and mercury among Korean children using the Iowa State University (ISU) method and to assess the contributions of different food groups to heavy metal intake.Methods:We analyzed 2 days of 24HR data from 457 children between 0 and 6 years of age in 2010. Using bootstrapped concentration data for 118 representative foods, 93.5% of total intake was included in the exposure estimates in this study. Using the 2-day exposure data, we estimated long-term exposure by controlling for within-individual variation using the ISU method.Results:The long-term dietary exposure estimates (mean±standard deviation) for lead, cadmium, and mercury were 0.47±0.14, 0.38±0.20, and 0.22±0.08 μg/kg bw/day, respectively. For lead and cadmium, the percentages of children whose exposure was greater than the reference value were 35 and 42%, respectively. Fruits were an important source of lead exposure, and cereal and fish and shellfish made the greatest contributions to the total cadmium and mercury exposure.Conclusions:Our findings also suggest that the long-term exposure to lead and cadmium was somewhat greater than the reference values, whereas mercury exposure was well below than the reference value in this population. Further studies may be necessary to evaluate the food items contributing to heavy metal exposure, and continuous monitoring is needed to ensure the safety of food intake and dietary patterns among vulnerable groups in Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) in functional health foods (FHF) and Korean herbal medicines (KHM) were analysed by the standard addition method with inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry. A total of 672 samples were collected from 2347 people (1015 adults, 557 students and 775 infants and children) who lived in Korea. Pb and Cd concentrations were analysed in the samples (FHF,n = 535; KHM,n = 50). Method validation was carried out using standard reference material (SRM), recovery rate and limits of detection and quantification. Recovery rates for Pb and Cd using three SRMs were 94.9%–101.6% and 96.7%–115.2%, respectively. Mean Pb values in FHF and KHM were 0.146 and 0.349 mg kg−1, respectively. Mean Cd levels in FHF and KHM were 0.035 and 0.056 mg kg−1, respectively. Mean values inSpirulinaand yeast products were the highest in the FHF samples (0.940 mg kg−1for Pb inSpirulinaproducts and 0.115 mg kg−1for Cd in yeast products). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]